A sheet support for bridging the gap between a sheet conveyor and a printing press has at least one guide bar extending at a right angle to the transport direction of the sheet conveyor, at least one movable and adjustable stop for paper sheets, and a plurality of individual, movable support elements that bridge the gap between the downstream end of the conveyor and the printing press. When sheet format or size changes, this gap size changes also so that the sheet support must be variable in width.
A sheet support of this type is, for example, known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,048 of Pietsch. This document discloses a sheet support with two parallel traverses extending perpendicular to the conveyor and on which a plurality of guide bridges are supported. On at least one side surface, these guide bridges have springs which abut adjacent guide bridges. If a lateral stop for guiding a sheet is shifted to a larger width in this sheet support device, the individual guide bridges are pushed apart by the springs, so that the ditch or gap between the printing press and the conveyor is completely covered. Alternately, if the stop is shifted to a smaller width, the guide bridges are pushed together against the spring action of the springs. Since the springs on the guide bridges build up in thickness and an elastic limit of the springs may not be exceeded when they are pushed together, the adjusting path of the known sheet support between maximum and minimum width is only slight.
A similar sheet support is also known from EP 0268 693 in which the individual support elements are formed from thin deformable sheet metal in a U- or V-shape. The sides of adjacent support elements bear elastically on one another. Thus, the elements themselves also form the springs. In this design the elastic limit of the support elements must not be exceeded when pushed together, so that the range of adjustment is also slight.